A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld Conrad Black's 2007 convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice.

The court said the defence's arguments were not enough to overturn the conviction of Black and three co-accused — John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis.

"The evidence established a conventional fraud, that is, a theft of money or other property from Hollinger by misrepresentations and misleading omissions amounting to fraud," Judge Richard Posner wrote in a decision with Judges Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes.

Black's lawyer, Andrew Frey, said Wednesday that he was disappointed by the decision and an appeal to a higher court was being considered.

Black and the three other men were convicted of mail fraud for defrauding shareholders of newspaper company Hollinger International Inc., while Black faced an additional count of obstruction of justice.

In March, Black began serving his 6½-year sentence at the Coleman minimum-security prison in Florida.

Earlier this month, Black had harsh words for two of the three judges who heard the appeal of his conviction, saying they didn't understand the case and sometimes acted like part of the prosecution. Black made the comments in an e-mail sent to the Globe and Mail from prison.